NVIDIA and Lilly to launch $1B AI lab to transform drug discovery and manufacturing
NVIDIA and Eli Lilly have started a new AI lab in South San Francisco. The partnership is to change how drugs are discovered and improve pharmaceutical innovation. Furthermore, it involves a commitment of up to $1 billion over five years.
The partnership combines Lilly’s strong pharmaceutical research and development skills with NVIDIA’s advanced AI and computing technology. The lab will create advanced foundation models for biology, chemistry, and pharmaceutical operations using NVIDIA’s BioNeMo™ technology.
The co-innovation lab will create a space for domain scientists and AI engineers to work together. This integration aims to create a continuous learning system that links Lilly’s wet and dry labs, allowing for AI-assisted experimentation at all times. The main goal is to use big data and computing power to speed up drug development and improve the discovery and testing of new molecules.
NVIDIA’s founder, Jensen Huang, called the lab a “blueprint for drug discovery.” In addition, he said it helps scientists look into large chemical areas using computer methods. Lilly’s CEO, David Ricks, emphasized that this partnership could fundamentally transform drug discovery by merging Lilly’s proprietary data with NVIDIA’s model-building capabilities. This project builds on Lilly’s earlier investments in AI, like setting up its AI factory and supercomputer.
The lab will use NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin architecture and include technologies like digital twins, robotics, and agentic AI to improve different parts of pharmaceutical operations, such as manufacturing and clinical processes.
Lilly’s TuneLab platform will work with NVIDIA’s Clara™ open foundation models for biotech partners. At the same time, NVIDIA’s Inception program will help startups in the ecosystem by giving them access to computing resources and technical support.
Apple has announced a big partnership with Google to improve its Siri voice assistant. Apple will add Google’s Gemini AI model to a new version of Siri, showing a big change in its AI approach. This partnership is part of a long-term deal that involves using Google Cloud infrastructure and Gemini models. The goal is to enhance Siri’s conversation skills and create new user experiences.
This partnership happens during a time of strong competition in the AI field, as Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has recently overtaken Apple in market value.
